ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH'S APRIL 18, 2006,

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 065681


E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER KDEM KMPI TS
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH'S APRIL 18, 2006,
CONVERSATION WITH TUNISIAN DEFENSE MINISTER KAMEL MORJANE

Classified By: NEA A/S David Welch for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: In an April 18, 2006 meeting with A/S Welch
on the margins of the 21st Tunisian-American Joint Military
Commission, Tunisian Defense Minister Morjane reinforced many
of the points made in the just prior meeting with Deputy
Secretary Zoellick with regards to Tunisia's intention to
present a draft SOFA in Tunis within days, Tunisian
willingness to increase regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan
Africa and to offer coordinated assistance to the poorest
Sahel countries, and Tunisian concern about what it perceives
to be a continuing Islamist threat, which Tunisia gives as
the primary pretext for the slow pace of political reform.
Morjane also agreed to pass a request to President Ben Ali to
improve CT cooperation. Welch also asked that the Tunisians
do more with MEPI. End Summary.

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Security and CT Cooperation
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2. (C) Morjane began the meeting by emphasizing the
importance of what he called the U.S.-Tunisian strategic
alliance to Tunisia. Welch countered that he thought mil-mil
cooperation was excellent, but that in the area of overall
defense cooperation, and in particular CT, there was room for
improvement. Morjane expressed surprise and agreed to pass
the request to his government. Welch said that one of the
problems was that these conversations often happen in
restricted channels, and assessments of the challenges and
requests for improvement often do not make it back into the
main policy discussions. Morjane proposed that part of the
solution might be one GOT POC for these issues; he thought
these conversations might be diffused across several
ministries in Tunis and not addressed comprehensively. Both
agreed that EUCOM's efforts in Tunisia and the Africa region
were very energetic and productive and hoped they would
increase.

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Political Reform and Human Rights
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3. (C) Both sides agreed that more could be done in the area
of reform cooperation and that it should begin with better
senior level dialogue. Morjane added later, however, that
this improved dialogue must happen at all levels and that
many more U.S. delegations should travel to Tunisia to assess
these matters on the ground. Morjane underscored Tunisia's
largely socioeconomic approach to addressing terrorism and
said that Tunisia has no flexibility when it comes to any
Islamist threat (from any quarter and of any variety). He
expressed the desire for more open dialogue on reform with
the U.S. Welch expressed interest in hearing more details
about the Tunisian plan for reform and said that given that
the MEPI regional office is in Tunisia and the Tunisians do
little with the U.S. in the way of reform, he would like to
explore ways to do more MEPI reform-oriented programs.

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SOFA and MOA
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4. (C) Morjane said that the GOT would be presenting in the
coming days and weeks not only new proposed SOFA language but
also a new Memorandum of Understanding on the use of GOT soil
and airspace for maneuver-related bombing in the Ben Ghellouf
range and mid-flight refueling practice for planes based
offshore on U.S. ships. He said that the only remaining
issue on SOFA was Tunisian participation in investigations,
but expressed the wish that a team of U.S. lawyers visit
Tunisia to finalize the document, once presented to Embassy
Tunis.


RICE